Deadline Looms for Irving Entertainment Center

A crucial deadline is looming for Irving to build a $250 million dollar entertainment center near the Irving Convention Center. (Published Monday, July 30, 2012)

The developer of the controversial Irving Entertainment Complex will present a new proposal to the City Council at a special meeting this week.

The Las Colinas Group is one week away from a deadline to come up with $80 million in funding for the project. If the developer and the city can't come to an agreement by Aug. 6, the contract on the $250 million project would terminate.

In February, the city gave the developer a six-month extension to come up with the funding for its part of the agreement.

Since then, the Las Colinas Group announced that TDI would become the new developer for the project and presented a new proposal to the city. City officials have not responded so far.

Councilman Dennis Webb, a supporter of the entertainment center project, said city staff have not talked with the Las Colinas Group in a while. He said he is worried about a potential lawsuit.

"It's now attorneys talking to attorneys, and it's whenever attorneys start talking to attorneys, attorneys make their money on lawsuits," he said.

TDI and the Las Colinas group will have an opportunity to publicly present their proposal at a special meeting Thursday evening. They are also asking the city to extend the Aug. 6 deadline.

TDI spokesman David Margulies said funding under the new proposal mainly would come from private sources.

"There may be some city funding, but it would be relatively minimal compared to the original proposal," he said.

Margulies also said the proposal takes into consideration every prior concern that had been brought forward to them.

"Rather than talk about, 'Are we going to court or not going to court?' let's talk about, 'Can we build the entertainment center and capitalize on the big investment that was made in DART and the Convention Center?'" he said.